Electric railway.



No. 746,512. 1 4 PATBNTED DEG. 8,1903.V

. R. HBNER.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

APPLICATION FILED DEU. 19, 1902.

WITNESSES UNITED ESTATES Patented December 8, 1903.

PATENT j OFFICE.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters latent No. l746,512, datedDecember 8, 1903.

Application filed December 19, 1902. Serial No. 135,870. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT HBNER, a subject of the Emperor of Germany,and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of`New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ElectricRailways, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to electric railways, and particularly to those inwhich a socalled third rail is used as a conductor in connection with ashoe suspended from the car and adapted to take current from saidconductor.

The object of my invention is to provide protection for the saidconductor against the action of the elements, and particularly againstsnow or sleet, while allowing the contact-shoe of the customaryconstruction to be used.

Another object of my invention is to prevent accidents such as may occurby persons coming in contact with the live conductor.

To this end my invention consists in a particular novel construction ofa sectional protector or cover for Athe conductor or third rail and alsoin a particular device for. temporarily moving the sections of theprotector out of the way of the arm which carries the contact-shoe.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate two forms of my invention, and the featuresof novelty will then be pointed out in the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a'plan of a third-rail construction having my inventionapplied thereto with parts in section. Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthesameparts with some of the protector-sections in section. Fig. 3 is acrosssection on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail showing a lstopdevice for theprotector dierent from that shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is aplan of the second form of my invention; and Figs. 6 and 7 are sectionalelevations thereof on lines 6 6 and V 7y 7, respectively, of Fig. 5.

In each of the constructions shown the third-rail conductor A isarranged between two beams B B',which extend above the top of the railand which are supported in any suitable manner, the third rail beingusually located at a higher level than the adjacent main or track railC. On the conductor-rail A is adapted to slide acontact-shoe D, whichlis generally secured loosely to the car-as,

for instance, by means 'of links E-the lower ends of which are pivotallyconnected with the said shoe, while their upper ends have a similarconnection with other links pivotally attached to an arm or bracket uponthe car. Thus the shoe will always ride on the third rail Anotwithstanding any up-and-down movement of the car-body. So far theconstruction is substantially the usual one.

In order to protect the third rail against contact with living beings,as also against the detrimental action of the elements, and particularlyof ice, snow, or sleet, I provide a protector or cover arranged toextend from one beam B to the other B', so that the rail A is containedin a normally covered or closed conduit or channel. In the forni ofconstruction illustrated by Figs. l to l the sections F of the protectorare hinged to one of the beams B, as indicated at'F, so that they arecapable of swinging upwardly into a position such as indicated in Fig.3, in which they leave a free path for the links E,as well as for thearm or bracket from which such links are suspended. In order to normallyclose the protector-sections F down upon the beam B, I may relysi mplyupon gravity, or a spring Gmay be used to start the protector-sectionsdownward. Instead of this I may also simply provide a stop II,'such asshown in Fig. 4, preventing the protector-section from 'falling outwardand causing it to return to its normal position as soon as it is allowedto do so.

It will be understood that some device has to be provided to lift theprotector-sections into the position indicated by Fig. 3 in advance ofthe links E or other supporting means of the contact-shoe D. Thisoperating device for the protector-sections is connected with thecontact-shoe,preferably in a loose manner, so that the operating deviceand the shoe may to a certain extent move independently of each other.The connection maybe effected by bolts E2, extending through slots E3E4. The operating device consists of a plate-like body I,preferablyapertured at I2 for the passage of the links E, which support the shoe Dand which is provided at one end or at both ends with a toe J, having aIOO surface beveled downwardly and adapted to project with its freelower end under the protector-sections F. To facilitate the engagel mentof the toe J with the protector-section,

the latter may be provided with notches F2, as indicated in Fig. 2. Itwill be seen that the contact-shoe is located under the platelike bodyI, which thus forms a cover and protector for the shoe. The body I isalso preferably so constructed as to act as a guide for the operatingdevice, and for this purpose a lateral guiding extension I is formed onsaid body or secured thereto, the said extension being arranged tooverlap the beam B', so that the beam is, as it were, received in agroove of the said operating device. Furthermore, the body I preferablyrests and travels upon the top of both beams B B'.

It will be understood that proper care should be used to prevent shortcircuits, and to this end it will be preferable to make the protactshoe.

device. protector-sections F are opened or raised only tector-sections Fand the operating device I J of non-conducting material, or, if this isnot advisable for mechanical reasons, to insulate the said operatingdevice from the con- In operation the protector-sections F Will normallyextend in a horizontal position from one beam B to the other B', so asto cover the conduit which contains the third rail A and to prevent theentrance of Asections F, such section will be gradually raised to theposition shown in Fig. 3, so as to be out of the way of the links E, or,generically speaking, of those parts which connect the contact-shoev andtheoperating device with the car. These parts I have termed in theclaims a carrying-arm, and I desire it to be understood that such termis to be interpreted broadly as covering-any suitable supportingconnection from the car to the contact-shoe or operating device.Similarly, I wish it to be understood that where I have used the termcontact-shoe I desire to include under this term any suitable contact Itwill thus be understood that the where this is necessary for the takingof the current and that they drop back to their normal positions as soonas the car has passed.

In the form of construction illustrated by Figs. 5, 6, and 7 theprotector-sections f are arranged to move horizontally out of the pathofl the carrying-arm. For this purpose the y said sections f are mountedto slide upon transverse guide-bars K and are normally drawn byspringsf, attached to brackets or hooks f3, into a position above thethird rail A. Theoperating device has a body 7,', with a lateral guidemember il and beveled toes j arranged to engage cut-away surfaces f2 onthe protector-sections f, although it is not necessary to cut away thecorners of the protector-sections, as shown. The toes j are bevrmamaeled from one side to the other instead of from top to bottom and arethus adapted to force the protector-sections sidewise instead of upward.The connection of the operating device with the carrying-arm may besimilar to that shown in Figs. l, 2, and 3. The operation of the secondform of my invention will be substantially the same as that of the firstform, except that the protector-sections are moved laterally instead ofupward to uncover the conduit.

I desire it to be understood that various modifications may be madewithout departing from the nature of my invention.

While in the drawings I have shown the protector-sections Ff providedwith flat upper surfaces, I desire it to be understood that they may begiven any desired shape, and in some cases they may be curved orroofshaped to facilitate the shedding of rain and the like. It will alsobe understood that while I have described the contact-shoe and theoperating device as supported from the car by the same carrying-arm suchconstruction is not essential, as each of the said parts may have itsown connection with the car.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. -The combination, with a conduit, a conductor and a protectortherefor consisting of individually-movable sections, of a contactshoeadapted to engage said conductor, and an operating device held to movewith said contact-shoe and arranged to shift the protector-sections fromtheir normal position, said operating device being provided with a guidemember arranged to engage the top of the conduit.

IOO

, 2. The combination, with a conductor, of v beams arranged at each sidethereof, a protecting-cover consisting of individually-mov able sectionsadapted to extend from one beam to the other, a contact-shoe arranged toengage the conductor, an operating device held to move with saidcontact-shoe and to shift the protector-sections from theirnormalposition, said operating device being provided with a guide memberin engagement with the top of one of said beams.

3. The combination, with a conductor, of beams arranged at each sidethereof, a protector consisting of individuallymovable cover-sectionsarranged to extend from one beam to the other, a contact-shoe arrangedto engage the conductor, a carrying-arm for said contact-shoe, and anoperating device through which extends said carrying-arm and which isarranged to move with the contactshoe and to shift theprotector-sections from their normal position, said operating devicebeing arranged to rest and slide on the upper surfaces of both of saidbeams.

4. 'lhe combination with a conduit having an open top, of a conductorarranged in said conduit, a contact-shoe arranged to engage theconductor, a protector consisting of individually movable sectionsarranged to IIO ro vice arranged to travel v upon the top of the conduitand to move the protector-sections out of their normal position.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBT. HBNER.

Witnesses:

JOHN LOTKA, OTTO v. SCHRENK.

